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By means of its very existence, the Gran Turismo series has created a huge void in the software catalogs of Sony's competitors. To honestly boast of completeness at this point, every platform needs an insanely hardcore driving sim that's literally exploding with licenses, photorealism, and depth. Until Sega GT 2002's release, the Xbox has only flirted with the idea of filling it, with stuff like Rallisport Challenge and Project Gotham Racing. Sega GT indeed does a whole lot to fill this vacuum, but to say that it as good as Sony's automotive monolith would be a bit of an overstatement. In areas where Gran Turismo 3 "stormed the fort," so to speak, Sega GT 2002 stopped just short of the drawbridge. Its customization elements aren't as deep, and in terms of sheer completeness, it just can't hang alongside the interactive encyclopedia that Polyphony has built. But even when taken for what it is -- specifically, an extremely well executed, and distinctive homage -- it's still the closest any game has come to competing.

If you're interested in Sega GT, chances are you're most curious about its career mode. It's all good, rest assured, and if you're burned out on Gran Turismo's formula, you might actually just find this one refreshing. It's called the GT mode, and while it probably won't seem too different from what you've already seen in these sorts of games, there are a few significant twists in its setup that make it feel just a little bit newer. Most notable is the way that the license tests are woven into the actual championship races.

If you're unfamiliar with the racing sim deal, license tests are what you have to pass (more often than not with flying colors) in order to take part in higher-order races. They usually call for near-flawless performance on your part, and, as you can probably imagine, they're quite often huge pains in the ass. One of the best things that Sega GT has done is take the sting off of them a little by integrating them into the actual flow of the races, and by having them focus a bit more on practical driving, in lieu of the comparatively stringent objectives in GT3's tests.

In the larger scheme, though, GT mode's experience largely resembles other games' equivalents. You'll buy cars -- nothing too hot, when you're starting out -- and compete in many different races in order to earn money. You'll use this money to hook up your cars and buy new ones, which will allow you to compete in higher-tier events, which will net you increasingly higher sums, ad nauseum.

There are two basic types of races open to you, these being the Official Races (the ones into which the license tests are woven), and the Special Events. The latter ones vary in makeup, sometimes being sponsored free-for-alls, and others having very specific criteria for entrance (stuff like races cars of a specific make, or machines with certain performance requirements, and the like). Especially at first, these Special Event races will have purses that are generally larger than those of the Official Races, so you'll likely spend a good bit of time tooling around in them. It'll sometimes feel like there aren't as many races to choose from as there are in GT3's career mode, but the truth is, the number is more comparable than it may seem. It's just that they're lumped into two categories, rather than spread over several, more specific divisions.

The game's modification model is certainly an area where it's a bit thinner than the competition, however. This isn't to say that there isn't depth. Quite the contrary; there's enough in here to satisfy all but the most detail-focused gearheads. You can purchase and upgrade stuff like turbo kits, circulation systems, gear kits, tires, and the like, and even tweak certain systems, like your car's suspension system, and its gear ratios. There aren't nearly as many upgrade options as there are in GT3, for comparison's sake, and not nearly as many tweakable systems, but unless you're focused mostly on this aspect of the game, you won't notice much.

One thing, however, that you'll have to be mindful of is the overall state of your car's different systems -- they'll deteriorate over time, and you'll have to spend big bucks to overhaul them once they start to act sketchy. This adds a level of realism that's perhaps a bit overboard, especially during the early game, when cash is a bit scarce. Sega GT is pretty good at sticking it to your virtual wallet, though.

Though the game's apparently focused on Japanese cars, there's no shortage of Detroit steel.

The game's odd damage model makes this evident. The cars themselves aren't deformable, but they'll still take damage during races, which can cost you quite a bit of cash, depending on how recklessly you drive. There's a life-bar, of sorts, sitting in the upper right of the screen, which depletes as you plow into things. The lower it gets during the races, the less cash you'll earn at the end. Don't worry -- you can't go into debt from driving crazy, but you can significantly decrease the amount of cash you'd have otherwise earned if you played it safe. In a sense, this is Sega GT's way of encouraging a more enlightened approach to driving, as it forces more heavy-handed players to learn, or suffer perdition. But it's arguable, in any case, that those kinds of drivers shouldn't be playing a game like Sega GT.